Mattie Lanell Fairburn

March 24, 1926 – September 24, 2019

Graveside services for Mattie Lanell Fairburn, 93, of Tylertown, Mississippi, will be held at 4:30 PM on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at Thornhill Family Cemetery on 90 Sims Thornhill Road in Tylertown, Mississippi. A memorial service will be held on October 26, 2019 at Mesa Baptist Church; the times for this gathering will be mentioned at a later date.

Mrs. Fairburn passed away at Billdora Senior Care Center in Tylertown, Mississippi on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. She was born March 24, 1926 in Tylertown, Mississippi to the late Mattie and Thomas Thornhill. She was also preceded in death by her husband Van Fairburn Sr.; son Van Fairburn Jr.; two brothers Lee W. "Webb" Thornhill Sr. and James Milton Thornhill; and three sisters Irene Hill, Abbie Cruise, and Ouida Rayborn.

Mattie Lanell Fairburn, better known as Miss Nell, Aunt Nell, Mom and Granny was a lifelong, faithful member of Mesa Baptist Church. She loved her family, her farm, her flowers and her ever producing vegetable garden. She and her husband Van were married 52 years. They returned to the Thornhill homestead and together raised a family and farmed the land, growing soybeans and other commercial crops. Miss Nell was a pioneer woman before we knew what that was called, and a full partner on the farm. She could work on big equipment, drive the dump truck and cook a fullcourse down home cooked lunch for all the field hands, all in the same day. Caterers had nothing on Miss Nell--forget the paper plates, she packed the good dishes and glasses of sweet tea in the trunk of the red Chevy.

She showed her love for her community and country by serving on various committees with the VFW Ladies Auxiliaries. Miss Nell loved to sew. She made all the clothes her girls wore, dresses and costumes for the grandchildren, and even matching dresses for the great granddaughters. Just last year, she made costumes for the end of the year program at Lear's kindergarten which her daughter owns. Her most recent project was to complete handmade quilts for each of her grandchildren. Miss Nell was a wife, mom, sister, grandmother, and friend who loved generously. She was loved and will be missed by all who knew her.

Survivors include her son Victor (Karen) Fairburn of McComb, MS; daughters Mattie (Winston) Smith of Buford, GA and Mary (Jerry) Turner of Tylertown, MS; grandchildren Craig (Kristy) Fairburn of Tuscaloosa AL, Stephanie (Samuel) Rainey of Franklin, TN, Matthew (Lauren) Fairburn of Madison, MS. Victoria (Matt) Smith of Summit, MS, Hillary (A.J.) Freeman of McComb, MS, Micah Smith of Buford, GA, Hannah Smith and her fiancée Jantzen Knight of Buford, GA, Jeremy Turner of Tylertown, MS and Jonathan Turner of Tylertown, MS; twelve great grandchildren Stevan Fairburn, Andrew Fairburn, Megan Fairburn, Kellen Fairburn, Kate Fairburn, MacLane Fairburn, Peterson Rainey, Gabby Rainey, Nathan Rainey, Max Rainey, Chad Seals, Eli Smith and 2 adopted ones Taylor and Kolten Magee; and sister Pat Gartman of Tylertown, MS.

Pallbearers are Craig Fairburn, Matthew Fairburn, Jeremy Turner, Jonathan Turner, Kyle Ginn and A.J. Freeman.

Honorary pallbearers are Matt Smith Casey Ginn and Charles Dillon.

Visitation will be at Hartman Hughes Funeral Home on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 from 1:30 p.m until 4:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers donations the family asks that a donation to the charity of your choice.